Inboard Engine Parts

Announcement

Collapse

Help Tip: If you have a question that has not been answered to your satisfaction in the archives, it is always best to start a new thread of your own. By starting your own thread, you will receive the maximum number of views by forum members.

Below are some additional forum policies in hopes of all iboats members will follow, Thank you.

1. Please do not reply to old topics or hijack existing topics. Old topics of a technical nature are like a library book, Please do not write in them.

2. Old topics should be considered archives and used for reference only. Please do not reply to them.

3. Do not take over someone elseís topic (aka hijack) with your own question, even if it is similar. If you have a question that has not been covered to your satisfaction in the archives, it is always best to start a new topic of your own.

4. If you have a question for the original poster (OP) and the topic is over 30 days old, send the OP a PM, he may not even visit the forums any longer, or may not notice your question in the old topic.

5. By starting your own topic, you will receive the maximum number of views by forum helpers that may not even notice your question when itís posted at the end of someone elseís topic. And those answers will be specific to your particular issue.

6. Please do not post to topics that have been inactive for more than 3 months unless you are the original poster. We have very active forums and any topic that remains inactive for that long should be considered "dead". It is especially confusing when there is an entirely new question posted to an old topic.

7. Posting at the end of any topic is considered to be hijacking the original posters topic which in turn subjects the topic to be closed if it continues to happen thus not making it fair to the original poster in the future had for some reason he/she needed to return for additional information or provide an update of the problem solved which is always welcomed within a reasonable amount of time frame.

8. Please note that you should see a red banner pop up near the bottom of each inactive topic asking you not to reply to old topics. The Red banner will read: Please note this topic has been inactive for 90 days. For the best results, please start a new topic.

Thank you all in advance for doing your part in helping iboats run a smooth ship.

This seems to come up quite a lot, so this Thread is an attempt to capture the common cold-start procedures for the various types of ignitions, and fuel delivery systems for OMC outboards. The following are standard guidelines for cold-starting. Your particular outboard may vary, but these procedures should give you a good baseline. There is no substitute for knowing the particular quirks of your own equipment.

Regardless of the year and type of outboard the steps common to all these are:

Ensure all battery connections are solid, and battery has a full charge (electric start only).

Ensure the fuel lines are properly attached to tank and outboard.

Ensure the fuel tank is properly vented. Buit-in tanks will have a dedicated vent line. Some portable tanks will often have a vent screw built into the cap, others will have auto-venting caps.

Pump the primer bulb in the fuel line until it is hard. If the primer bulb does not become hard you may have other issues including an air leak, defective bulb, or misadjusted carbuerator floats.

If you have electric trim, trim the motor up to eliminate excessive back-pressure during cold start. Do NOT tilt the motor up out of the water.

You are now ready to start your outboard using the following procedures specific to you model.

Remote Keyed Ignition

There are two basic types of fuel systems to aid in cold starting. Solenoid activated Choke plates and solenoid primers. The starting procedures are the same for each.

Place the motor in fast-idle and in neutral gear. Depending on your remote control box, this is acomplished in one of two manners. If you have a dedicated fast-idle lever pull that up between 3/4 to full. If you have a single-lever control and don't have a fast-idle lever, pull the throttle out to lock the engine in neutral and push the throttle forward. If you have a dual-lever control, leave the shifter in neutral, and advance the throttle.

Push the key in, activating the choke plates or primer.

Turn the key to start.

After the motor begins to run, release the key so it returns to the run position and disengages the choke/primer.

As the motor begins to stumble, bump the key in activating the choke/primer. You may need to do this several times until the motor can fast-idle on its own.

If you tilted your motor up for cold-start, lower the motor to its normal operating position.

As the motor warms up, slowly begin reducing the fast-idle until the motor is able to run in normal idle on its own.

Additional Notes:

Choke Plates: It is often the case that the choke plates are not set so they close fully and stay closed during start. You can remove the outer air cover and visually monitor their operation during start. If they are not closed, or do not stay closed, adjust the position of the choke solenoid in small increments until this condition is achieved.

Quick Start: Because these systems automatically advance the timing for a cold start, raising the warm up lever may cause the timing to revert to normal at around 1100 RPM, before the engine is warmed to 96 degrees, defeating QuikStart. Those who have QuikStart may find that cold starts are better without the warm up lever, or with just a little. (thanks ezeke)

Tiller Start

As in the remote keyed ignitions, there are two basic types of fuel systems to aid in cold starting. Choke plates and primers. The starting procedures are different for each and are as follows:

Manual Choke

Choke plates are butterfly plates located at the back of the carburetor body. When engaged, they restrict the flow of air through the carburetor forcing more fuel to be drawn through the idle and mid-range jets while cranking. The choke is only effective while the motor is turning and drawing air through the carburetor body.

As the choke is disengaged and the motor warms up, slowly back the throttle off from start to the shift position.

Manual Primer

The manual primer operates as both a fuel injector and an enriching device. The fuel injector operates w/o air being drawn through the motor. The enriching device is an alternate path from the carburetor to draw fuel through the primer and add more fuel during cold-start.

Put motor in neutral

Place the throttle in the start position.

Cycle through one or two full pull-push operations on the primer knob. This will squirts fuel into the intake manifold.

Pull out primer knob one half-to full out. This will engage the cold-start enricher circuit.

Comment

QuikStart is a feature of the powerpack that advances the timing whenever the engine is started. After five seconds, the timing will return to normal if the engine temperature exceeds 96 degrees or if the RPM exceeds 1100, whichever occurs first. The change in timing is quite noticable.

Most of the QuikStart powerpacks have a black and white wire from the temperature switch on the cylinder head in addition to the normal tan wire for the alarm.

Comment

Good detail and I agree it would make a good FAQ. I do have one comment and that involves tilting the engine up for starting. The engine has bypass ports so that step really insn't necessary and in fact may tilt the carbs too far forward making getting fuel into the engine harder than when they are level (trimmed down). There is one additional, and admittedly controversial technique, involving the primer system. That is after squeezing the primer bulb, turn the key to RUN (not START) and then push the key in for an 8 to 10 count. The turn it to start. Every Johnson/Evinrude and my current Merc all start better using that technique. Which way you do it is certainly a matter of choice and what works best for you.

Comment

2000 Johnson 25 - 2 cyl requires choking when cold. Problem is that the gas drips off the choke handle when pulled all the way out and runs off the handle when half way in. No problem starting or leaking after engine starts. Usually floods but starts after 15 minutes. Do I need to replace the choke assembly? This is a great motor otherwise. Thanks in advance for help.

Last edited by drchilie; October 26th, 2007, 01:20 PM.
Reason: delete under this topic moved to new thread